Sen. Kyrsten Sinema Took Her Oath of Office on a Lawbook, Not the Bible

When Democrat Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona was sworn into the U.S. Senate today, she placed her left hand on an Arizona “lawbook” (to use Getty’s terminology) instead of the Bible. It’s precisely what you’d expect from the only officially “Unaffiliated” member of the new Congress.

***Update***: A spokesperson for Sinema told the Arizona Republic that the senator specifically used “a book from the Library of Congress containing the texts of the U.S. and Arizona constitutions.”

I imagine Vice President Mike Pence, who administered the oath, died a little on the inside.

To be sure, Sinema isn’t an open atheist, and there were a lot of books other than the Bible this year for newly elected members of Congress. But it’s still nice to see a government official show people that her allegiance is to our country and our laws, not a holy book or the Ten Commandments. Sinema did the same thing in 2013 when she was first sworn into Congress.

Times have changed at the Capitol: Some of the holy books for new member’s swearing ins, including a Quran, Buddhist Sutra and Hindu Vera (and two Constitutions for the atheists) pic.twitter.com/KES1JKnqP9